U.S. MNT Roster By Position (Club; WCQ Caps/Goals):
GOALKEEPERS (4): Brad Guzan (Atlanta United FC; 13/0), Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge/BEL; 0/0), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids; 35/0), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake; 0/0)
DEFENDERS (11): DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo; 33/6), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City; 11/1), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin/GER; 3/0), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City/ENG; 20/2), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; 3/0), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca/MEX; 14/0), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas; 0/0), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 4/0), Jorge Villafaa (Santos Laguna/MEX; 2/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United/ENG; 6/0), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City; 17/3)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; 2/0), Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana/MEX; 2/1), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union; 8/0), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/CAN; 33/6), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mnchengladbach/GER; 15/1), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers; 5/0), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 7/3)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC/CAN; 36/16), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC; 38/18), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC; 3/0), Bobby Wood (Hamburg/GER; 8/4)

Where is Wondo? Looks like the injury-bug hasn't had much of an impact for this set of games. Sebastian Lletget will be out until August, but otherwise some good players back that were unavailable for the last set of games.

Howard
Yedlin Brooks Cameron Villafana
Acosta Bradley Pulisic Johnson
Dempsey Altidore

TheMasterplan said:

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Howard
Yedlin Brooks Cameron Villafana
Acosta Bradley Pulisic Johnson
Dempsey Altidore

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I'm good with that. Would be interesting to see Wood/Altidore up top as well.

Wood

TheMasterplan said:

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Howard
Yedlin Brooks Cameron Villafana
Acosta Bradley Pulisic Johnson
Dempsey Altidore

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I don't see Pulisic being used as a central midfielder, nor Acosta in the starting XI.

Pulisic's already seen minutes centrally for Arena, so it's not that far fetched.

Man, who are these noobs Brooks and Chandler with only 3 caps each? Hope they're good... back line didn't look so hot against Panama.

Bradley...sigh

Excited to see if we can keep building steam. A lot of the guys are in good form in club play.

Pulisic's getting a new manager, next season. Hopefully he'll continue to see the field but who knows.

Brooks is moving to Wolfsburg so it'll be interesting to see if he'll continue to progress and find that consistency. Also, will be interesting to see how he plays now he's no longer playing for his hometown club.

I think he will continue to see the field. He had played in more games for Dortmund than any other midfielder on the roster (albeit from sub role) and is one of the top young talents. There will be plenty of top clubs interested if he doesn't get time with Dortmund

gig them said:

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caleblyn said:

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Bradley...sigh

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Ah, yes. The Bradley hate without any mention of a box-to-box replacement. As is tradition.

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At some point we have to find a replacement. Dax and Danny Williams aren't long term solutions since they're about the same age as Bradley. Acosta?

He also started nearly half the games.

I agree with you... only reason his playing time drops is if they transfer him and his new club is one of the few that are more loaded than Dortmund.

I'd love to see Danny Williams brought in even though he's not a like for like with Chandler.

With Chandler out, I agree I wish they would bring in another CM. The squad Arena named was heavy on defenders and light on MF.

I would really like to see us go "attack mode" on T&T and Venezuela and see how we do:


Altidore (Wood)- Dempsey

Pulisic-Nagbe-Morris

-----------Bradley----------

Johnson-Cameron-Brooks-Yedlin

----------Howard---------

Altidore or Wood in that Forward spot, or a rotation between those 2 and Dempsey. Morris has been playing on the wing some for Seattle, so would love to see him and Pulisic out on the wings together, with Nagbe serving balls in the middle, and Bradley in the defensive mid role, where he is at his best.

Aston94 said:

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With Chandler out, I agree I wish they would bring in another CM. The squad Arena named was heavy on defenders and light on MF.

I would really like to see us go "attack mode" on T&T and Venezuela and see how we do:


Altidore (Wood)- Dempsey

Pulisic-Nagbe-Morris

-----------Bradley----------

Johnson-Cameron-Brooks-Yedlin

----------Howard---------

Altidore or Wood in that Forward spot, or a rotation between those 2 and Dempsey. Morris has been playing on the wing some for Seattle, so would love to see him and Pulisic out on the wings together, with Nagbe serving balls in the middle, and Bradley in the defensive mid role, where he is at his best.

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I'd like to see:

Altidore - Wood

Johnson - Nagbe - Pulisic

------------- Bradley ----------

Villafana - Brooks - Cameron - Yedlin

------------- Howard ----------

I like that, but I see Wood more as a Dempsey replacement than a Jozy replacement.

Acosta has a very bright future for the MNT, for now I see him starting all Gold Cup games but used as a sub for WCQ. He has been a pro so long it's hard to remember he is only 21. My guess is he will make the roster for Russia, and be a starter in the next round of qualifying. He plays with passion and intensity, defends well enough and is great going forward....

pic.twitter.com/YEsR8JeOKn

Who is the young phenom coming up the ranks? Pulisic?

Yes

Lineup

FJ has to pull the trigger. Through on goal and we didn't even get a shot

Yeah that was disappointing to say the least.

Surely one of these chances will pan out.

Awful work clearing the corner

Howard with 2 huge saves. Venezuela all over the USA since their 1st goal

First goal conceded to Venezuela ever IIRC.

Man I like this lineup, but so many mistakes tonight.

Absolutely no chemistry up top right now and the only direction we seem to pass to is backwards

Yeah that possession where Yedlin was just looking for anyone to pass to... brutal.

That was a half full of meh...

Fabian Johnson directly in front of the goal and looking to pass is the story of this half.

I think with Fabian, he is still looking to build chemistry with the team in this "new" position for him. We want him to look to be selfish there, he has a nice shot.

I like nagbe a lot, but with Pulisic's emergence, I don't think there is a place for him in the starting lineup. He is giving us ZERO width and just clogging it up the middle, imo. Either that, or we need a more effective left back overlapping because Villafana has not been providing that service very well.

We weren't playing bad by any means, just not quite sharp either.

wangus12 said:

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Absolutely no chemistry up top right now and the only direction we seem to pass to is backwards

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Which I find strange, because I could have sworn Wood and Dempsey had played together well, but maybe I'm wrong. I know Wood and Altidore had played well before.